I don't think the chances are any higher than when the player stays in Europe and I've seen nothing to suggest it is to be honest.
None of those apply here.
Except that he does say if they pledge not to take part in Afcon it's all fine and dandy. That's under their control. Harsh, but what it boils down to.
It looked pretty obvious to me. The number of times Afcon screwed PL rivals is not insignificant. Arsenal and Chelsea used to get hit really badly.
Because more players would actually be signed by top teams. I watched Burkina Faso reach the semis of the recent Afcon with a squad where their most famous player sits on the Villa bench (he doesn’t even make that anymore). Teams like Zimbabwe held Mane’s Senegal until the 97th minute or something. Comoros beat a supposedly World Cup level team in Ghana. Sierra Leone didn’t even lose to Algeria or Ivory Coast. So much unearthed talent that is most likely not being signed by the top clubs due to how frequently they have to be away, particularly since they likely won’t be starting players immediately due to them being unproven.
South America and Asia have the exact same allocation for the World Cup, and they have no problem organising it every 4 years aside from the random additional tournament CONMEBOL put in place over the last decade. Also, have you ever thought that clubs might be avoiding African players for that reason, as per my reply to Adexkola, and just not making it as explicit as De Laurentiis?
Newbies aren't Einsteins
Again: there's a world of difference between a player getting injured while playing for his employer vs a player getting injured on national duty. What's hard to understand about that?
Sure, it does seem a bit overblown. Hell i don't even expect DeLa to actually stop signing african players either. Man says a lot of shit
Even Einstein was a newbie once
Nah the Caf only introduced the newbie system 1906
Losing Essien, Mikel, Kalou and Drogba was always frustrating from a selfish point of view for sure.
Yes, but if representing your country means anything to you as a footballer, you obviously won't make such a pledge.
It is, but then on the other hand, it's not surprising that so many people see an issue with it. Sad, but not surprising.
That's a very special case - and the policy is controversial.
fully agree. On a normal season though it normally has some sort of bearing on it. Look at salah and mane last season they were missing for a period of time. I know fergie used to bear it in mind when signing players. But let’s face it if your good enough any team would buy you. Prime ronaldo or maradonna you wouldn’t care less if they missed three weeks.
While I think that Bilbao is not without controversy, it's not the same as this at all.
Bilbao literally don't want anyone who isn't Basq in their club, while Napoli don't want only players participating in African cup. first is perfectly acceptable, while the other is racism and discrimination. caf logic.
I've not said either are acceptable. There is a case that both aren't.
but they "discriminate" on other basis, which Napoli don't. Napoli (their president) don't care where you were born, or about your skin colour or race as long as you aren't absent in the middle of the season and that's it. he wants his players available, not white/black/Basq. he may sound disrespectful to Africans but tbf, it's logical his only concern is Napoli. and despite what he says, I'm fully convinced that if he finds talented player from Africa, he will still sign it regardless.
and try to convince him to play for France or whichever European nation willing to give him a passport
also in his right. he's dealing with grown up men, they don't have to sign for Napoli if they don't want to. they have thousands of clubs to choose from.
I think it's mainly due to the fact that it takes place in the middle of the domestic season, rather than the frequency with which it's hosted.
I think the nuance of the situation is that they aren't trying to actively discriminate against anyone in their Basque policy. It isn't about discriminating against others, it's about wanting the Basque element. They don't say we don't want Africans or Asians or Nigerians or Argentinians etc., they say we want Basque players. In the Napoli situation it's actively opposing against having African players, he's saying "no african players". It's difficult to explain but hopefully that offers what I'm trying to get across.
african players that will leave them in the middle of the season. those same players are prefectly fine regardless of their skin colour/race/beliefs as long as they are present (at Napoli). he may sound disrespectful but this has nothing to do with racism.
Why is France mentioned here?
Which is reaching xenephobic behaviour as it's disregarding the importance of that competition to those african players and their cultures.
I haven't listened to what he actually said but the concept of not signing players due to competition calendars is not xenophobic nor racist, to me it's a pretty big stretch. To some extent it's comparable to Rugby certain national teams not selecting players that are abroad simply because it's not the most practical.
There is no evidence for the second argument that you give, and for example, South America qualifiers consist of 10 nations. Compare that to the qualifiers of the African nations. It is not even in the same stratosfeer.
Sure it feels different, as fans we are emotional and irrational so I understand that. But in reality I don't think it really is when you consider how, when, and how often injuries happen.
Personally I think it is when you're saying we will only sign you if you agree not to play in this competition. It's devaluing something which is quite important to those players.
I agree on the idea that it's somewhat similar but it actually makes things simpler. Clubs will definitely discriminate a player that is guaranteed to be injured for a sustained period of time every other year. That player is likely to get worse contract offers and cheaper transfer fees offers.
That's the part I disagree with, he should stay away from the players and not try to pressure them into not playing for their national teams. Though the NHL is giving us a bad example of that.
